HUNTSVILLE, Tex. -- The Rice baseball team rallied from an early deficit to win its seventh game in a row in a 6-3 road win at Sam Houston State Tuesday evening at Don Sanders Stadium on the SHSU campus in Huntsville, Texas.

Sam Houston State opened the scoring with two unearned runs in the bottom of the second inning. A two-base Rice fielding error put leadoff man Heath Pugh quickly into scoring position. Keith Stein was hit by pitch and both runners advanced on a passed ball. Pugh scored a wild pitch and Stein scored on a ground out to the left side that should have ended the inning.

Rice came right back and tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning. Brian Friday and Diego Seastrunk both drew walks to lead it off and a one-out free pass to Aaron Luna loaded the bases. Designated hitter Jess Buenger drove in Friday with a ground out to the right side and the runners both advanced. Chad Lembeck drew a walk to re-load the bases. The fifth walk of the inning, this time to Danny Lehmann, scored Seastrunk and tied the game 2-2.

Bearkat senior first baseman Karl Krailo led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to left field and put SHSU back in front 3-2. The Owls used a little long ball of their own to regain the lead in the sixth. Lehmann led off with a single to right-center and pinch runner Derek Myers advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Tyler Henley laced a one-out single to center to score Myers and tie the game, 3-3. Friday followed with a two-run homer to left that cleared the bases for a 5-3 Rice advantage.

Rice added an unearned run in the eighth to stretch the margin to 6-3. Jordan Dodson singled and stole second base. With two away he was on the move when Seastrunk connected with a pitch. The infield grounder could have ended the inning, but a Bearkat fielding sent the ball into the outfield allowing Dodson to score on a sprint.

Senior right-hander Scott Lonergan earned his second win of the season working in relief of starter Ryan Berry. Junior Bobby Bramhall notched his first save of the year by firing six strikeouts in three scoreless innings to close it out.

The Owls improved to 10-4 on the season while Sam Houston State fell to 8-5. Rice continues its current four-game road swing with a three-game weekend series on the road at seventh-ranked Cal State Fullerton March 2-4. Start times against the Titans are slated for 9 pm on Friday, 8 pm on Saturday and 2 pm on Sunday. All times listed are central.